


The Art of Letting go of The Past

by RyuCrisis



Category: Aquaman (2018)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Burn, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-10-07 14:57:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17368025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuCrisis/pseuds/RyuCrisis
Summary: Post Movie. Rayna Saunders has been Arthur Curry's best friend since childhood. After reclaiming his kingdom, he decides the best way for Orm to let go of his hatered towards humans is to see that not ALL of them are so bad. He signs Rayna up for the task. When something happens that reveals an explosive secret that she she has kept all her life, who will help her through it?





	1. Musings of an Ocean Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody! I am back! Now first off I promise that I have not forgotten PP. In fact, that should be up by Sunday at the latest! I was going to wait until then to post this too but I was too excited and I had to do it right now! Sooo last weekend I went and saw Aquaman. I cannot lie it made the muse explode. I immediately felt the need to somehow give Orm some kind of redemption and this story was born! Now this is my first foray into DC so god help us all. I have no idea what I am doing so it would be fantastic if you would all R and R or leave me something on the way out! I would really appreciate it! I think that is all I have to say for now!
> 
> Happy reading everybody!
> 
> Disclaimer: Like everything else, I own nothing but the plot and Rayna thus far!

 

_Rayna_

Sighing softly, Rayna let her small feet dip into the ocean below her. This was a habit she had developed quite some time ago. When she was very young, her mother passed away very suddenly and Arthur and his dad, Tom were gracious enough to take her in. She supposed it helped that Arthur was attached to her as she was to him. For as long as she could remember, he had looked after her. So when her mother suddenly passed away, he begged his dad to take her in and thankfully he agreed to. She had been living at the light house ever since the 'incident' as she called it happened.

Until recently, she had been putting up with her crappy life just fine until Arthur's heritage blew everything up in her face. Some time ago, he took off with some Atlantean woman to try stop all hell from breaking loose and just left her to wait for him. He promised that he would come back and yet he still hadn't. She was so _angry_ at him for just leaving her all alone. She had no idea what she would do if he didn't come back like he promised he would. What if he didn't want to come back anymore? She had no idea if she could stand being alone.

Deep, deep down, she knew that he was doing the right thing and was the only one who could stop it but that didn't mean that she had to _like it_. In fact, she hated it and anything else to do with Atlantis. Atlantis was the reason that her mother was dead. It was the reason she was all alone and it was the reason that she had no idea who her father was.

Thinking such thoughts caused her freckled nose wrinkle in disgust. She hated thinking such things but it was damn near impossible not too. No matter how she tried, she just couldn't let go of what happened to her all of those years ago. It was constantly festering in the back of her mind. Arthur tried to help, he really did but being around him was like the worst kind of bitter sweet reminder yet to try and live without him would be ten times worse. Ever since she was little, she had been drawn to Arthur just like she was drawn to the ocean.

The ocean called to her constantly. She tried so hard to suppress it with all of her might but it was so hard that it was almost painful. That part of her was so hard to control and being around Arthur only made it want to come out more. The worst part of it was that he had no idea of the war that went on inside of her. He had no idea of what her father did or the pain he put her and her mother through. Just thinking about he just up and left made her so _angry_.

Looking down, she saw that the waves in the ocean below her were getting very choppy. She was so connected to the ocean that whenever she got mad the ocean seemed to get mad right along with her. She tried calm herself down. Her control on that part of herself was crappy at best and she had to calm down before she somehow managed to conjure her own rogue tidal wave filled with garbage.

She took a couple of deep breaths and thankfully she somehow managed to calm herself down before anything bad could happen. She let out another sigh. As much as she tried to keep it all suppressed, she knew that one day it WOULD come out and when that happened she had no idea what she would do.

Some days, a huge part of her wanted to just give in and tell Arthur everything but then the pain and anger always tried to claw it's way out and she just couldn't.

Realizing, that Arthur was not going to come back anytime soon, she decided it was time to go back to her mother's house. Since, his mother came back to the light house, she hadn't been able it step foot in it. She knew that it upset Tom and that Arthur would be upset if he knew but she just couldn't handle being around another Atlantean. Being around him was hard enough some days.

Getting up off of the dock, she slipped her shoes back on and turned to leave. As she did, her bright green eyes caught something coming toward her in the distance.

Just what in the HELL was it?


	2. A King's Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everybody I am back with the second chapter! First of all, I have to thank everybody for all the kudos(s) and comments. Holy crap balls I never expected to get so much of everything! In saying that, I still have no hot clue what in the hell I am doing, so if everybody can continue with the awesome feedback I would be eternally grateful!
> 
> Notes: Okay so, this chapter is Orm-less. I wanted to make sure everything was paced right and everything was well developed. So this chapter concentrates mostly on Arthur and Rayna's relationship with a couple of plot points thrown in. The next chapter will have Orm in it but it will be the chapter after the next one where they actually meet. I am all about keeping stuff realistic and I promise it will be worth it!
> 
> P.S. It seems that I have fogotten to mention how old Rayna is. She is 27 years old. I know it seems like a specific number but you will all see why that is down the road!
> 
> Alrightie then! I think that's all I have to say! Happy reading everybody!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Rayna thus far!

_ Rayna  
_

Rayna turned back around and squinted to try and get a better look at whatever it was that was coming her way fast. As it came closer, she was finally able to see what it was. Her heart damn near jumped into her throat when she realized that it was Arthur. She couldn't  _believe_ it! He actually came back to her. She though for sure that once he got down there, that he wouldn't want to come back to the surface again.

He jumped onto the dock and gave her a cheesy grin. She damn near had to hold back a gasp of shock what he was wearing. He had on some kind of orange and green armor on. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It looked like scales were covering his entire body. Turning her attention to the weapon he held in his right hand, her bright green eyes got huge. This was NOT his mother's trident this was something else all together. It was gold and it almost felt like it was… _alive._ She had no idea how else to describe it.

Arthur cleared his throat and her attention jumped from the trident in his hand back to him. He was still looking at her with cheesy, silly grin that she loved so much.

"Well, aren't you happy to see me?" He laughed.

She was honestly torn between punching him in the face for taking so long to come back and jumping him because she was so happy that he was finally back. In the end, jumping him won out. She ran to him and almost jumped right into his arms.

"I thought you weren't going to come back." She mumbled into his shoulder.

She heard him let out a sigh from somewhere above her head. He pulled back from her slightly and gave her a look that she knew too well. It was the ' _I can't believe that we are having this conversation again look_ '

"Oh pipsqueak, I know it's hard. I know all of this is hard on you. But you've got to start believing me when I tell you that none of that shit down there will never ever stop me from seeing you, alright?" He told her firmly.

She gave him a look that was a cross between shame and sheepishness.

"I know, I'm sorry." She said sheepishly.

He gave her an affectionate look. She knew that he wasn't really mad at her, he was just desperate to figure out a way to help her let go of all of this crap so she would believe him for good. She really wished she wasn't so messed up.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Now, come on! I have somebody special that I want you to meet!" He said excitedly.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an affectionate manner and tried to lead her toward the lighthouse. Realizing what he was trying to do, she froze in place. She knew that he was trying to take her to meet his mother and she knew that she just wouldn't be able handle doing it. He gave her a questioning look.

"Arthur, I want to but I just…can't…It's just too hard." She tried to explain.

His amber eyes softened and he gave her a look of understanding.

"It's okay pipsqueak, I understand. Do you want to go to your mother's house instead?" He suggested gently.

She nodded at his suggestion. At this point, her mother's house was pretty much the lesser of two evils. She didn't like being there either but it was better than the lighthouse at the moment.

"Yes, please." She agreed.

He smiled at her and together they left the dock. She allowed Arthur to keep his arm wrapped around her as they walked. Normally, she wasn't one for physical contact but he was the exception to that rule. She just felt so safe around him. It had been that way since they were young. No matter what kind of situation she got herself into, he was always there to bail her out of it. When the bullies were mean to her, he always got rid of them for her. He really was like her own personal knight in shining armor. She supposed it was scaly armor now. Being so attached to him was like bittersweet misery but she wouldn't have it any other way.

They reached her mother's house and she fished her keys from her jean pocket. She unlocked the door and let Arthur in first. She entered the house after. After shucking off her shoes, she went and plopped down onto the couch. She watched affectionately as he placed his trident against the wall next to the front door and went straight to the fridge for a beer.

' _Some things never change._ ' She thought, snickering to herself.

She watched him grab a couple of beers from her fridge and then he fished her bottle opener out of her junk drawer. Beers and opener in hand, he came and plopped down next to her. He opened one beer and hand handed it to her. He opened the other one for himself and then tossed her bottle opener onto her end table.

After taking a large swig of his beer, he spoke.

"So, anything interesting happen up here while I was gone?" He asked curiously.

She took a swig of her own beer and shifted in her seat. She knew that it was possibly asking for all kinds of trouble but a huge part of her wanted to know what happened in Atlantis and while she hated it she also wanted to be a good little sister to Arthur. It was obvious that he wanted to tell her everything that happened but was trying to pick a safe topic for her sake.

"Um, nothing really interesting happened up here while you were gone. Listen, if you want to talk about what happened in Atlantis I am okay with it." She said softly.

He gave her a look that just screamed ' _Are you seriously okay with that?'_

"Are you sure, pipsqueak?" He asked seriously.

She gave him a gentle smile and nodded. Ever since they were young, he always put her first no matter what the situation was. It was her turn to return the favor.

"Arthur, I promise you that it's fine. I know that you want to tell me about your adventure, so go ahead and knock yourself out." She laughed.

He gave her a huge smile and she knew that she made the right choice. She could almost  _feel_ how happy he was. Immediately, he launched right into telling her all about his adventure. He told her all about the strange red-headed atlantean woman that came asking for his help in the first place. Her name was Mera and it turned out that she was an atlantean princess that was betrothed to his half-brother Orm. She was trying to stop Orm from starting an all out war with the surface.

Hearing this caused her brows to pull together and she frowned. She couldn't say that she was entirely shocked by him telling her this. Twice, poor Arthur tried to go to Atlantis to try and talk with Orm. Both times he was turned away by Orm and the rest of Atlantis for having 'dirty blood'. It pissed her off to no end and she tried to console him the best she could. It was just another thing to add to the list of reasons why she hated Atlantis so much.

He told her all about facing Orm in the ring, how he lost and how Mera saved him. At this point, it became glaringly obvious that he was just a little bit more than smitten with this Mera and she had no idea how to take it. She decided that the best thing to do for now would be to let it go and try to put it to the back of her mind for now. He was here with her now and that's all that mattered anyway.

He explained that after Mera rescued him that they went on a 'crazy ass adventure' as he put it to go and get the  _Trident of Altan_  so he could reclaim the throne and stop Orm from starting a war. He described it like he and Mera went on some kind of treasure hunt from hell that led to a place that he considered to be hell under water called 'the trench'. From his description of the monsters that lived down there, she had to agree.

He finished his story by telling her all about how he found his mother in 'the trench', fighting a huge monster to get the trident and then facing Orm once more. As he told her all about facing Orm in battle once more and beating him, she could see the sadness in his amber eyes. She knew that all that really wanted was to get to know his little brother and he didn't want Orm to hate him because of his blood. She knew that Arthur didn't really want to imprison Orm but he was left with little choice

She sighed softly, deep down she wished that there was something that she could do to ease his sadness. She knew that all he really wanted was for his family to some how not hate each other.

Which was unfortunately probably not possible and that made her sad. She gave him a gentle look and took his large hand in her small one. She gave it a squeeze.

"That's one hell of a story, big brother. I am so proud of you!" She told him truthfully.

He gave her an affectionate look and squeezed her small hand back.

"Thanks, pipsqueak." He said affectionately.

He let go of her hand so he could get up and dispose of their beer bottles. She knew that this meant that he would have to leave soon and she hated it because then she would be alone all over again. She had no idea when he would come back to see her and that bothered her so much.

Clearly, she must be doing a crap job at hiding what she was thinking and she had some kind of crappy look on her face because he immediately stopped what he was doing and he came and knelt in front of her.

"Come on pipsqueak, I know you know better. I will be back to see you soon, I promise." He reassured.

She smiled at him and nodded. She had to show him that she believed him.

"I know, now help me up so I can walk you to the door at least." She said, holding her hands up for him to grab.

He smiled and helped her up. She walked him to the door and opened for him. Picking up his trident, he gave her a brotherly kiss on the forehead and then left the house. She sighed softly and shut the door behind him.

Not knowing exactly what to do with herself, she decided that it would probably be a good idea to try and sleep a bit if she could. She honestly didn't feel like doing much else. She left the living room and went to the spare room to change. She didn't really have her own room, there was only her mom's room which she hadn't set foot in since her mom died and the guest bedroom. She stayed in the guest bedroom but usually ended up on the couch. She didn't really feel comfortable anywhere in the house but just thinking of going to the light house right now made her insides churn.

Entering the spare room, she opened the closet and found a pair of sweats to throw on. As she did this, she caught her reflection in the mirror that hung on the door and frowned. Her dark, unruly curly hair was even more unruly than normal and her sweats just sort of hung off her small 4'11" frame. All in all, she looked like a mess. She sighed and climbed into bed. It was far too early to go to bed but she was exhausted.

As she tried calm herself enough to drift off to sleep, she couldn't help but think about how close she was to just giving up like her mother did and that scared the crap out of her because it was the last thing she wanted.

Something had to change and fast.

Sometime Later

_Arthur_

Arthur sighed deeply as he exited the lighthouse. He had decided to stop in and see his mom and Dad before he went back to Atlantis. Of course, as soon as he got there the first words out of his dad's mouth were 'have you seen Rayna?' followed closely by 'did you try to convince her to come back?' she had no idea how important she was to not only him but to his dad too and it broke his dad's heart that she didn't want to stay at the lighthouse anymore.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just force her to go back to the lighthouse because that would not only destroy all of the trust she had in him but probably all of their relationship and that was the last thing he wanted. All he wanted to do was help her but it was damn near impossible to do so when she refused to let him in.

Whatever was going on with her, he knew it had something to do with her mother passing away and Atlantis but not much else because she refused to tell him. He had tried multiple times to get her to talk about it but the end result was always the same. There was no way she could keep going on the way she was. Whatever it was that she was holding onto, she had to find a way to let it go and he was going to help her somehow.

Jumping into the ocean, he decided to take a long swim before he headed back to Atlantis. His favorite thing to do was just swim it really helped to clear his mind. The way he got to see the ocean was by far his favorite thing about being Atlantean. He couldn't get over how beautiful the ocean really was.

He swam around watching ocean life while he continued to think about what he could do to help Rayna. Unfortunately, helping Rayna was not the only thing on his mind. Orm was on his mind constantly too. He had no idea what to do about him.

He didn't want Orm to be imprisoned for the rest of his life but his hatred towards him and the surface was still so strong. What he needed was a way to show Orm that not all humans were so bad.

Suddenly, a thought popped into his head and his amber eyes widened. He started swimming back to Atlantis as fast as he could.

He just got an insane, crazy idea. Vulko and Mera would both think him insane but he had no idea what else he could do. It might be the only way to help Orm let go of his hatred towards the surface and to help Rayna let go of what happened to her in the past.

It was asinine but he had to try it. He prayed that it would work because he had no idea what he would do if it didn't.


	3. One Crazy Plan and Some Tough Brotherly Love on the Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everybody! First things first, I was originally going to post this on Friday but I managed to get a bit of time off work and got it done early. So mid-week surprise FTW! Secondly, holy hot shit I have to thank everybody for the feedback it has been down right awesome and I can't thank everybody enough. Now, I am still kind of figuring out what I am doing here so if you all can continue with the R and R and the kudos(s) I would be eternally grateful!
> 
> Notes: Okie dokie, so Orm is officially in this chapter! Unfortunately, there is no actual Rayna/Orm action until the next one (so sorry!) I really want to make sure this is paced right BUT we do have some fun plot points in this one to make up for that!
> 
> P.S. Just to let everybody know I will be alternating between this story and Professor's Pet so you can all expect updates every second week or so.
> 
> I think that is all I have to say for now! Happy reading everybody!

_Arthur_

"Absolutely NOT!" Vulko exclaimed.

Arthur winced internally. He was not at all shocked by Vulko's reaction to his plan. Currently, he was in what he called 'the war room' with Vulko and Mera trying to explain his 'crazy ass plan' to them and it was not going as well as he had hoped.

"Look, I know this plan sounds asinine but you don't know this girl like I do. I swear she is going to be fine." He insisted.

Vulko crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a look that just screamed ' _I don't care what you think, this plan is going to fail and it is not happening'._

"I don't care what you say about this girl, Arthur. You and I both know that Orm doesn't need a weapon to hurt her and I know that as soon as he gets to the surface all hell is going to break loose." Vulko countered.

He frowned and ran his hand through his messy hair. He had no idea what he could do to help Vulko understand what he was trying to do.

"Vulko, just please hear me out. Think of it like creative punishment, I want him to serve the rest of his sentence on the surface so he can see that not all humans are actually bad. I chose Rayna because I have known her for half of my life and I know that she can handle keeping him out of trouble. She is not exactly what you would call a normal human being." He tried to explain.

He watched Vulko carefully, he could sense something was 'off' with him. As soon as the name 'Rayna' slipped from his mouth, Vulko's entire demeanor began to change. It was very weird and he hand no idea what to make of it.

"Vulko, are you alright?" He asked carefully.

Vulko looked at him with a look that he really had no idea how decipher.

"I will have no part in this 'plan'!" Vulko hissed and then just left without another word.

He stood there staring at the space that Vulko had been just occupying moments earlier in shock. He had no idea what that was all about, but he decided that trying to get his plan in motion was more important for the time being and he would just have a talk with Vulko about it later.

He turned his attention to Mera who as also staring at the spot that Vulko had been occupying in shock. She turned her attention to him, and her look of shock morphed into one of extreme aggravation. He supposed he deserved that. He opened his mouth to speak but she held her hand up to stop him before he could utter a single word.

"It's okay Arthur, you don't have to try and convince me. I'll help you." She told him, exasperation coloring her tone.

He looked at her like she just grew several heads and they all started spewing fire. He had no idea why the hell she would help him just like that.

"Excuse me? You're going the help me just like that? Why?" He asked incredulously.

She rolled her eyes at his response and then shrugged.

"Look, I know you are going to put this stupid plan into motion no matter what either I or Vulko try to tell you, so I've decided that the better option is to help you make sure it succeeds." She explained.

At her explanation, he couldn't help but grin. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her into his personal space so he could place a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Thank you, I can't even begin to explain to you what this means to me." He said gratefully.

She smiled back at him. She had really did have no idea what this meant to him. He knew that he would be spending a long time making it up to her for putting her up to this in the first place, but it would be entirely worth it in the end.

"I know, you need a way to keep in constant communication with your human friend and a tracking device for Orm. I will take care of that for you while you go and talk to Orm. I really hope this plan works." She told him truthfully.

He knew that even though she thought his plan was completely insane, she was telling him the truth when she told him that she hoped it worked. If it did work, everybody would be better off for it even if they didn't realize it yet.

After thanking Mera once more, he took off in the direction of the prison cells so he could talk to Orm. This was the first in a series of many potential road blocks in his plan, he now had to convince Orm that this 'creative punishment' was a good idea.

Orm hated the surface and anything that had to do with it, and he had to somehow convince him that serving the remainder of his sentence up there was a good idea. He knew that it wouldn't be easy, but he had a plan for that too. All he had to do was 'entice' Orm with the idea that if he finished serving the rest of his sentence on the surface that he would gain more freedom. He only hoped that it worked. Otherwise he would be straight up shit-creek without a paddle but he tried not to think about that.

It took him no time at all to reach the prison cells and find Orm's cell. Like every other time he had come to visit him, Orm was standing in the middle of his cell with his arms crossed looking at him with is brow quirked. He often wondered if Orm had some kind of Atlantean sixth sense that he hadn't quite fully developed yet. Every time he came to visit, he always seemed to know that it was him coming to visit and acted accordingly. Usually, like a giant jackass.

"Big brother, why have you decided to grace me with your presence this time?" Orm asked sarcastically.

He fought against the urge to roll his amber eyes, he supposed that he should be used to such attitude by now.

"I have a proposition for you to consider. You can either take it or leave it, it's your choice but if you decide to take it you can earn some freedom back. It's up to you." He explained.

He could tell that the gears in Orm's brain were already turning and that was a good thing, he knew that the idea of getting some freedom was just too good to pass up. Orm gestured for him to go on so he did.

"My proposition is this, I want you to serve out the rest of your sentence on the surface with a human friend of mine. If you do it, all you have to do is wear a tracker. You get as much freedom as she deems fit. What do you think, it has to be better than staying in this cell, right?" He proposed.

At words surface and human, a look of severe disgust formed on Orm's face and he knew what was coming.

"Hard pass. You can leave now." Orm stated blandly.

He sighed internally, he knew that is would happen. Orm was a very proud person and right now his pride was busted so asking him to something like this probably felt like the final 'screw you' to him and that was the last thing he wanted. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind, it might be considered a 'low blow' but it was all he had left he only hoped that it worked.

"Okay fine, I get it. I can see why my 'proposition' might not appeal to you, I get that but please try to hear me out. Do you really think that our mother wants you to spend a good chunk of your life in prison? Despite of what you think of her, she loves you and doesn't want you wasting away down here. Hell, neither do I and I am offering you a way to change it. Please, try and let go of the bullshit that your dad fed you growing up and take it." He pleaded.

He hadn't meant for it to come out as emotional as it did, but he meant every single word that he just said. He wanted to fix this so bad, he didn't want Orm to be imprisoned forever, he wanted a real relationship with him, and their mother did too. Thankfully, what he said seemed to work if only a little bit. He still looked harsh and disinterested on the outside but on the inside, something had shifted, however small it was.

"Fine, I accept your 'proposition'. Now please leave me alone." Orm said quietly.

He nodded and did what Orm asked of him. Even though they had barely scratched the surface of their issues, he knew that what they just hashed through was emotional and Orm needed some space to deal with what was said. He was more than okay with that. He couldn't help the sigh of relief that left him. He was so relieved that he managed to convince Orm to accept his 'crazy ass plan'. He hadn't wanted to use such a 'low blow' but it was something that had to be said.

Leaving the prison cells, he checked in on Mera briefly before heading to the surface to talk to Rayna. If trying to convince Orm that this was a good idea was hard, trying to convince Rayna it was a good idea was going to be hell.

Back in the Prison Cells

_Orm_

Letting out a frustrated noise, Orm ran a hand over his face. He so agitated with himself that he was pacing his cell. He couldn't believe that he just accepted Arthur's ridiculous plan, but he thought about what their mother told him after Arthur beat him. That he has been poisoned by what his father had taught him about the surface. He still hated the surface but for the sake of his mother he was willing to try it.

Besides, it was better than putting up with being stuck in this stupid cell and Arthur visiting him nearly every day. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he could use this 'plan' to his advantage and maybe even play with Arthur's human pet girl a little bit too. Yes, maybe this whole thing wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sometime Later

_Rayna_

Rayna sighed. Currently, she was sitting at her kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee because it was far too early for a beer. Most days she either did that or went to the lighthouse to sit at the dock. She found that the more she went to the dock, the less the ocean called to her and it gave her a few days of normalcy before it started again. Normalcy. Just thinking about the word caused her to snort into her coffee. What the hell was considered normal anyway? Certainly not the was she lived.

For one, normal people actually worked a full week but she didn't have to. When her mother decided to end her own life, she made sure that everything was left to her. The house, all of her stuff and her money. Her mom had saved a decent amount of money over the years, so for the moment she managed to get by with two casual jobs. One was at the bar that she, Arthur and Tom used to frequent and the other was at the elementary school. Neither of them managed to distract her enough from the reason her life was like this in the first place.

No matter what she tried to do, her mother was constantly on her mind and so was her father for that matter. She always wondered what her life would have been like had her father not left her and her mother. She didn't remember much about her father because he had left when she was so young. She only vaguely remembered his voice and even that was hazy. She was certain that he did love her and her mother, so she didn't understand why he just up and left. Thinking about it just broke her heart all over again.

Suddenly, her dismal thoughts were interrupted by somebody banging on her front door. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. It could only be one person.

"Come on Rayna, open up! I have something important to talk to you about!" Arthur yelled, his voice muffled by the door.

Placing her cup of coffee on the table, she got up to answer the door before he ended up breaking it down.

"Geez Arthur, I'm coming! Don't get your trident in a knot!" She snarked back.

She opened the door and Arthur came into the house. He rested his trident against the wall next to the door like he did the previous evening. He had such a serious look on his face that she was beginning to worry. He gestured for her to come sit with him on her couch and she complied.

"Look pipsqueak, I am sorry to just barge in here and everything, but I have something extremely important that I have to discuss with you." Arthur explained seriously.

At his explanation, she felt her stomach drop somewhere in the vicinity of her ass. Arthur was rarely ever serious and when he was it usually meant that something bad either happened or was going to happen.

"Arthur what is going on and what is so important?" She asked, desperately trying not to be worried.

Realizing that he was freaking her out, he gave her a gentle look and took her hand in his to try and calm her down a little bit.

"I'm sorry I'm freaking you out, pipsqueak. That is not my intention at all. I just want to talk to you about something that you might not necessarily like, but you have to promise me that you will listen to what have to say okay?" He said seriously.

She looked at Arthur with huge bright green eyes, nothing he was telling her was making her feel any better but he was her big-brother and she had to trust him. He would never hurt her ever and she know that.

"Okay Arthur, go head and tell me and I promise I will try not to freak out." She promised.

He smiled affectionately at her. He knew that she was telling the truth.

"Good, now you understand that Orm is imprisoned in Atlantis, right? Well, I have an idea for some 'creative punishment' that might help him let go of some his deep seeded hatred towards the surface. I know this is going to sound totally crazy, but I think it would help him to serve the rest of his sentence up here with you. I think it would help him to see not all humans are bad and you are the only one that I know who can handle this. I know that you don't want to hear it and get why that is, but I think being around him will help you too." He explained gently.

For a moment, Rayna sat next to Arthur totally frozen and unable to speak. She could not believe he would ask something like that of her. He knew she couldn't STAND anything to do with Atlantis yet he tried to force it on her in the worst way possible. She couldn't even handle meeting his mother, how in the HELL did he think that she could handle his little brother who hated the surface and everything about it in her house?

She couldn't help the look of complete betrayal that formed on her face. Arthur was the one person that was supposed to understand her. She couldn't believe this. She could barely even look at him. She let go of his hand and scooted away from him. She knew that this probably hurt him but she could care less at the moment. She could feel the tears burning in the corners of her eyes and she couldn't stop them from coming.

"How could you? How could you dare ask me to do such a thing! Don't you care about me at all? Please leave now!" She hissed angrily, pointing toward the door.

She heard Arthur let out a long sigh next to her, but she refused to acknowledge him. She just wanted him gone. Instead of leaving, he got up off the couch and knelt in front of her. She still outright refused to acknowledge him, he could sit there forever for all she cared.

"Sweetheart, you know I can't do that. Now, look at me." He coaxed.

When she refused to look at him, he let out another long sigh.

"Alright, then don't look at me and just listen. You and I both know that you can't keep going on like this. Whatever is going on with you, it is destroying you from the inside out. You are my little sister, you are one of the biggest parts of my whole entire world and I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to you and I could have prevented it. I know this isn't easy, hell call it tough brotherly love if you want. I can't help you if won't let me in, so if I have to force my way in a little bit then so be it. You may not like it, you have to let go of this shit somehow and I am going to help you do it even if I have to force you." He said fiercely.

For a moment, she said wordlessly and then the flood gates opened up. She sobbed huge racking sobs. It was like years of pent up grief just started spilling out of her.

"Arthur, I am so sorry." She sobbed.

Arthur gave her what she called a 'big brother bear hug' and that only made her cry harder.

"Oh pipsqueak, I know you are. It's okay." He soothed.

He hugged her until she finished 'crying it out' and then he said down next to her. When she felt calm enough to, she turned to him and spoke.

"Your right, I can't keep going on like this and maybe this might help push me in the right direction. I'll do it." She told him softly.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she could see the relief on is face plain as day and she knew that she made the right choice.

"Thank you, you have no idea what this means to me. I promise I will there to help you every step of the way." He said sincerely.

She cuddled up against him and gave him a watery smile. She still wasn't looking forward to having Orm in her house, but Arthur was right, she couldn't keep going on like this and doing this for him would force her into taking that first step into dealing with her hatred of Atlantis and what her father did.

It wouldn't be pretty, but she didn't want to end up like her mother. She couldn't even imagine what it would do to Arthur. He loved her and she couldn't do that to him.

She knew that she could do this, she refused to let the past win.


	4. Something Completely Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everybody! Here is the fourth chapter all ready to go! First off again, a huge thank you to everybody that left me kudos(s) and comments itt makes my day! If everybody could continue with that I would be forever grateful! Okay so first off, I know I was supposed to do Professor's Pet first but to be honest I just had to get this Orm/Rayna first meeting done first, my muse demanded it so here you all go!
> 
> Notes: So like I just mentioned, Orm and Rayna are meeting in this chapter. Hopefully, I did the meeting justice! There is also a nice memory from Arthur and some plot points sprinkled in too!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing!
> 
> I think that is it, happy reading everybody!

_Arthur_

Arthur swam back to Atlantis with a stupid grin on his face, he was so happy that he managed to convince Rayna to help him put his crazy plan into motion. Even if she didn't realize it yet, he knew that nobody else would be able to handle Orm like she could. Only Rayna would have the patience required to put up with his endless crap and help him grow at the same time. Orm needed somebody to help him understand the surface and how humans worked. He knew that Rayna was perfect for the job, not only was she patient but she would be able to look passed what he did and see the person inside. Not many people possessed such a gift.

He remembered the day he met her like it was yesterday. She was a scrawny, skinny little thing and for some reason the need to protect and look after her had been overwhelming. Hell, it still was now and he had no idea where it came from.

Memory

_13 year old Arthur looked around the school yard and grumbled to himself. It was the same old thing every year. He went to class alone, sat alone and tried to avoid the bullies to the best of his abilities. He hated school but knew that his dad would give him major crap if he caught him skipping classes so he put up with it. Sneaking away for his lessons with Vulko was hard enough._

_As he started making his way to the entrance of the school, a commotion suddenly broke out where the bus drop off was and he decided to go and check it out. He frowned when he saw that his bullies had chosen a new target for the day. His frowned deepened when he realized that it was a girl much younger than he was. She was a scrawny little thing, she had a lot of dark, unruly hair. Half it was tied up and the oh half was left loose. Presumably to keep the most of it out of her face. She had a sweet looking face with a pair of the hugest, greenest eyes he had ever seen. In her arms she held a huge, fat book that looked far too complicated for somebody her age to read.  
_

_He felt his anger spike as he watched the bullies try to rip the book from her arms. He decided that he had seen enough. He stomped right up to the head of the group and pushed him away from the young girl._

" _Really, Derek? Are you so lame that you have to get your kicks by picking on young girls half your age now?" He yelled angrily._

_He stood in front of the little girl protectively and Derek smirked at him. He wanted nothing more than to smack the smirk right off of his stupid face._

" _Oh look if it isn't fish boy! Are you back for more?" Derek laughed, his smirk growing larger._

_He tried to keep his anger under control but Derek was making it almost impossible. He let out an aggravated growl and grabbed onto his arm tightly. It would take one quick movement and he could easily snap it in half but Vulko taught him better than that. Instead, he simply grinned right back at Derek and squeezed his arm ever so slightly._

_Realizing that he meant business, Derek backed off quickly._

" _Come on guys, let's bounce." Derek stuttered._

_He watched Derek and his friends take off and he snickered to himself. Derek was all bark and no bite. After making sure that Derek was long gone, he turned his attention back to the little girl who was now looking up at him shock. He chuckled softly._

" _Are you alright?" He asked gently._

_The little girl smiled at him shyly._

" _I think so, thank you for saving me and my book. My name is Rayna what's yours?" She asked curiously._

_He smiled at her curiosity. She was so young but already seemed so far beyond her years._

" _I'm Arthur. How old are you? You seem so smart and articulate for somebody so young." He laughed._

_She blushed up to her hairline which caused him to laugh harder._

" _Um yeah about that. I know it's weird. I'm six and I may have skipped a couple of grades." She explained, trying to keep the embarrassment out of her voice._

_Realizing that Rayna was actually embarrassed about this whole thing, he placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. She had to know that being smart was not something to be embarrassed about._

" _Rayna, I promise you that being smart is not something to be embarrassed about. Try not to worry about what people say, okay?" He told her reassuringly._

_She gave him a very shy but grateful look._

" _Thanks for telling me that, Arthur. Say, you wouldn't want to be my friend would you?" She asked shyly and then added quickly. "Of course you don't HAVE to if you don't want to!"_

_He gave her an affectionate look and placed an arm around her shoulders._

" _Of course I'll be your friend! Alright, let's go and find your classroom." He suggested._

_He could see the relief as plain as day on her face. He knew that school was hard enough as it was and he knew that it would be even harder for her because she was so smart. Just the thought of people picking on her made his anger spike. There was just something about her that made him want to look after her and be around her. He had no idea what it was._

" _Thank you so much, Arthur. You have no idea what this means to me." She told him gratefully._

_He gave her a gentle smile and started leading her towards the school._

" _No problem, pipsqueak." He said softly._

_As they walked toward the school together, he couldn't help but think that this was the start of something good._

End Memory

Ever since that day all of those years ago, he had been watching out and looking after her and she always looked out for him too. It had always been them against the world. Where one was the other was never far behind, until he went back to Atlantis and everything changed. Even though he couldn't be around her as much as he wanted to anymore everything had pretty much remained the same. The urge to be around her and protect her was ever present and he suspected it would be a lot worse when he left Orm with her.

The funny part about the whole thing was that the feelings were never ever romantic in nature, their dynamic had always been that of a brother and a sister. The way he felt around Rayna was not at all like the way he felt around Mera. Whatever the 'feeling' was, he knew that it wasn't a bad thing at all.

He let his thoughts shift to getting Orm prepared to go to the surface. He knew that it wouldn't be an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. Orm was as stubborn as he was, if not more stubborn. He thought of Orm acting like a jackass to Rayna and the 'feeling' jumped to the forefront of his mind once more. He wasn't look forward to leaving Orm alone with Rayna but he knew that he couldn't let it get in the way of his 'plan'.

Whatever happened, he would be there to help her through it like he always was.

Back at Rayna's House

_Rayna_

Rayna was in the hallway staring at her mother's room with a huge frown on her face. After she got all of the crying out of her system, Arthur stayed with her until she was sure she was okay to be alone and then she sat on the couch alone for while so she could get all of her thoughts in order. She finally decided that if she was going help Arthur with this crazy plan of his that she was going to do it right.

Arthur told her a lot about Orm and she knew that a lot of his hatred toward humans had a lot to do with what his dad drilled into his brain when he was growing up. She also knew that some of what his dad told him was probably true. Not all humans were good and that was a fact but not all of them were bad either. Just because some humans were bad didn't mean that entire human race should be wiped out for good. As much as pained her to think about it, she knew that this was something that she was going to have to teach him.

After she threw together a game plan together in her head, she got herself up off of the couch and started putting it into motion. She decided that her first order of business was to clean out the guest room for Orm. If she had to teach him that not all humans were bad, giving him his own room would be a good start. After she finished cleaning out the guest room of all of her things, she spruced it up and then decided to take a small break so she could take a trip to the corner store. Considering that she was in fact a girl, she knew Orm would need things that she just didn't have.

The only thing real 'male' thing she did have that Orm could use was a bunch of clothes left over from various exes that Arthur scared away. While she didn't have a lot of experience in the relationship department, she had a few boyfriends in the past all of which Arthur managed to scare away. None of them could really handle having Arthur around. She figured if they couldn't handle Arthur, they probably weren't worth it anyway. Now, she had a good use for the clothes that they left behind. Orm could just simply pick and choose what he wanted to use. If he wanted to use them at all.

Now that she was finished preparing the guest room, she was standing at the door of her mother's room trying to work up the nerve to go in. Deep down, she knew that this was something that she had to do try and let go of her past but it was just so hard. She hadn't stepped foot in her mother's room since she died and she knew that once she did it would bring back a whole slew of unwanted memories.

Putting her hand on the door knob, she slowly turned the knob and opened the door. She stepped into the room and turned on the light. She took a moment to look around the room, it looked exactly the same as it did on the day she died with the exception of the bed. Because she died in the bed, it was taken out and eventually replaced with a new one. Everything else had not been touched since the day she died.

Immediately, she was assaulted with the memory of her 7 year old self finding her mother in bed and freaking out. She tried desperately to push the memory to the back of her mind. She decided the best thing to do was to try and tackle everything systematically. She started by stripping the bed and cleaning the sheets. While she knew the bed was technically clean, it had been sitting unused for so long that she felt the need to wash it before she tried to use it.

After she did that, she decided that the next step would be to bring the things she took out of the guest bedroom. Once she finished with that task, she started trying to tackle the dresser because it was a lot less daunting then the closet. The closet was where her mother tended to store everything and knew it would be the hardest thing to try and tackle.

Just as she started trying to go through the first drawer, somebody started pounding at her door and she knew it was Arthur. Realizing that he probably had Orm with him, her heart began to pound, and she seriously wondered if she shouldn't just back out of this stupid task. She took a few deep breaths, she knew that she couldn't let Arthur down. As much as she wanted to be a coward, she couldn't do it.

She just couldn't let her big brother down after all he's done for her.

"The door is open!" She yelled, hoping Arthur would just let himself in.

She looked down at herself and sighed. She was wearing a black tank top (with a bra underneath) and pair of sweat pants. She was also a little sweaty from cleaning. Not exactly an outfit one would wear to make a great first impression, but it would have to do. At least her hair was up and not all over the place. She stopped what she was doing and left her mother's bedroom.

She went down the hallway and entered the living room. Sure enough, Arthur was there and he had Orm with him. She took one look at Orm and suddenly she wished that the floor would swallow her whole. She had no idea what she was expecting Orm to look like but she certainly wasn't expecting a tall, blond Adonis with stormy blue eyes. Unlike Arthur, he was wearing sliver scales that did very little to hide his physique. He had his arms crossed and was looking down his nose at her. She suddenly felt very naked and wished that had on more than just her tank top.

The tension in the room was at ridiculous levels and this was something that Arthur seemed to notice. He tried to break it.

"Hey pipsqueak, what have you been up to?" He asked curiously.

She let out a sigh of relief internally, leave it to Arthur to try and save the day.

"I was just cleaning out the guest room. I figure it is better than trying to crash on the couch." She explained.

She turned her attention to Orm who was still looking down his nose at her, like she was something nasty he was forced to look at. She had a feeling that this might happen and tried not to let it bother her.

"Orm, would you like me to show you where the guest bedroom is?" She asked politely.

The look on his face worsened and he looked as if answering her question was the last thing that he wanted to do.

"I am not human, therefore I have no need for a human guest bedroom." He stated blandly.

She fought against the urge to frown and Arthur looked ready to punch him in the throat. She knew that he was trying to intimidate her by being a dick and she was not about to let that happen. She had to defuse the situation before Arthur did end up punching him in the throat and everything went to hell.

She put her hands on her hips and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Look, you can either use the guest bedroom or sleep outside. It's your choice." She snarked back.

At what she said, Orm looked at Arthur with his brow quirked and he merely shrugged back. He turned his attention back to her.

"Very well then, I accept the use of your guest bedroom." He conceded.

"Good! It's just down that hallway if you want to go take a look." She told him, pointing in the direction of the hallway.

Wordlessly, he swept passed her and went down the hall. As she looked at his retreating form in shock, she realized that this whole thing was going to be so much harder than she first thought. She turned her attention back to Arthur who at a look of complete exasperation on his face.

"Pipsqueak, I am so sorry that he is such an asshole." He said, completely exasperated.

She sighed internally. Of course, Arthur would try to apologize for his asshole little brother's actions. She smiled reassuringly at him.

"Arthur, it's okay. I kind of expected it to happen and I am not at all offended by it." She said reassuringly.

He let out an annoyed noise but smiled back her.

"I know, but that still doesn't make it right. Anyway, I have something for you." He replied, changing the subject.

He placed his trident up against the wall by the door like he normally did and then he took a blue bracelet off of his right wrist and handed it to her. It was unlike any bracelet that she had ever seen before the beads reminded her of the ocean. There was one bead in the center of the bracelet that was silver. What kind of bracelet was this and why was he giving it to her?

"What kind of bracelet is this?" She asked curiously.

She could see that Arthur was snickering at her curiosity and she gave him the stink eye right back.

"Always curious, aren't you? It's not just a bracelet, it's actually a device that allows you to communicate with me whenever you want. I want you to wear it at all times, and if you need anything you call me, alright? If something is not right, I want you to call me. If Orm is making you feel uncomfortable, I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is or what is going on just call me and I will come and help you, alright?" He said seriously.

She put the bracelet on and nodded. Even though the technology was Atlantean, she felt much more comfortable with the prospect of being alone with Orm now that she had a way to reach Arthur at any time.

"If anything at all goes wrong, I promise I will call you." She promised.

He smiled at her and then he took her hand in his. He turned her hand so that her palm was facing up and the one sliver bead on the bracelet was visible.

"Good, now in order to call me you have to tap the sliver bead once. When you want to 'end' the call you tap it twice. Understood?" He explained, pointing to the silver bead.

She smiled back and nodded.

"Thank you, Arthur. I feel much better now that I have a way to contact you if everything does end up going to hell." She said gratefully.

He gave her an affectionate look and gave her a 'big brother bear hug' and she hugged him back just as fiercely.

"Good. As much as I'd rather not, I have to go now. I know you can do this." He told her fiercely.

"I know I can too." She mumbled, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

After a few moments they parted, and Arthur picked up his trident. She opened the front door and he reluctantly left. She knew that this was just as hard on him as it was on her. This was the first time he wouldn't be here to outright protect her like he always was. It wasn't like the bullies at all. This time she had to do it all on her own.

Letting out a long sigh, she decided that she needed a moment on her own to deal with all of the emotions she was feeling. Leaving the living room, she went through the kitchen and to the back door. She threw on a pair of shoes and exited the house. She went through the back yard and climbed down a series of rocks so she could see the ocean. Her ass always got wet when she did this and she couldn't actually get as close as she wanted to the ocean without falling to a very painful and possibly bloody end but for tonight it would have to do. She always did this when she wanted to see the ocean but couldn't bring herself to go to the dock.

She sat for quite some time just trying to sort through what she was feeling. She played with the bracelet and briefly entertained the idea of calling Arthur then dismissed the idea from her mind quickly. She knew that it was going to be hard and it was possibly going to suck a lot but she had to do this.

Suddenly, somebody cleared their throat above her head and she damn near jumped about a foot in the air in shock. She looked up and saw that Orm was standing there watching her. She had no idea how long he had been standing there for. She couldn't help the blush that creeped up her neck.

"Jesus Murphy, Orm! Are you trying to give me a heart attack so I keel over and die?" She screeched, trying to calm her pounding heart.

Quirking his brow at her, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Are you going to come back in the house or stay out here all night and freeze to death?" He asked, completely ignoring what she said.

She rolled her eyes and started climbing back up the rocks.

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" She snarked back.

He let out an annoyed noise and sneered at her. She tried to ignore the fact that even with the sneer on his face he managed to still be handsome.

"You humans are always so dramatic over everything." He said, spitting out the word 'human' like it was a curse word.

For a moment, she had to quash the urge to punch him the throat or even better make him sleep outside for real. As much as she wanted to do it, she knew that she couldn't. She had to somehow teach him that humans weren't bad and making him sleep outside would only hinder that effort and punching him in the throat wouldn't help either. She had to play nice but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to put him in his place a little bit.

"You know, Arthur told me a lot about you. I know all about what you think of humans and I know that you like to act like you are above everybody else but what he failed to mention to me was the giant iron rod that you have shoved up your ass! I'm going to bed, goodnight." She hissed.

Walking right passed him, she entered the house and kicked off her shoes not even bothering to wait for his reaction to what she said. Honestly, all she wanted to do was be away from him for the time being. Making her way to her mother's bedroom, she opened the door and then tried to slam it closed behind her.

She began doing her night time routine and cursing at herself at the same time for even trying to do this at all. It was all Arthur's fault.

Why in the HELL did she even let him talk her into doing it in the first place?

_Orm_

He watched Arthur's little pet human girl stomp by him and then enter the house without even looking at him. How dare she talk back to him like that? Did she not know her place? She was human and therefore she would always be beneath him. He entered the house with the intent of following her and putting her back into her place. His enhanced senses picked up her scent and he followed it. He would never ever admit it out loud but for a human, she didn't really smell all that  _bad._ Not like humans normally did, anyway.

He followed her scent all the way to the bedroom opposite of the one she gave him. He crept closer and saw that the door was open a crack and he decided to peek inside. He saw that she was pacing around the room preforming what was mostly likely her night time routine. It was plainly obvious that she was still very angry with him (not that he cared) so much so that she was almost throwing objects around the room.

He watched her take her hair out of whatever was holding it up and she began to brush it. He was shocked at the amount of hair she had, it was very unruly but he found that he didn't find it unattractive and that unnerved him. He moved his attention from her hair to her bright green eyes and then to the rest of her small body. Again, he found that for a human she wasn't entirely unattractive. She was on small side but was still dainty and had curves in all the right places. For a split second, he wondered what she would look like under water and then he tried to banish the thought as quickly as it happened.

He sighed, if his father knew what was happening to him now, he would be spinning in his grave.

Just as she was about to start changing, he turned away and entered the bedroom that she had given him. He decided that he had seen enough of her for the time being. Instead, he went about exploring the room she had given him. He saw that she had supplied everything that he might need to live like a human while he carried out the rest of his sentence in this place. He was both disgusted and curious at the same time. Why would she do such a thing?

When Arthur started telling him about this human pet of his, he was not expecting anything like she was.

She totally and completely unnerved him and the worst part of the whole thing was that he couldn't bring himself to hate it entirely as much as he wanted to.

Staying in this place was going to be far more interesting than he first thought.


	5. The Upside of Human Nature

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey everybody! Here is the new chapter all ready to go! I am sorry for the hold up! Thankfully, everything is back to normal you can all expect normal bi-weekly updates again like normal. Like normal, I must thank everybody who left me kudos(s) and comments. They have helped more than anybody could ever know! Please do me the favor of keeping that stuff up! 
> 
> Notes: Okay so this chapter is a lot of Orm/Rayna sass with a couple of plot points thrown in for good measure! Also, I have to decided to take a page out from Practical Magic and a spoiler at the end of each chapter! I hope you all enjoy that too!
> 
> Alrightie! I think that is all I have to say! Happy reading everybody!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing! However, I would love to own Orm though!

 

_Rayna_

Growling and snarling to herself, Rayna banged pots and pants together in her kitchen. It had been exactly three days since Arthur dumped his 'crazy ass plan' into her lap and left Orm with her. All three of those days she had to desperately quash the urge to call Arthur to come and take Orm back and just forget the whole damn thing. He had been nothing but a total insufferable jackass to her the whole time he had been at her house.

Right now, he was holed up in the guest room and had refused to come out for the last two days. He hadn't eaten anything since he had arrived and she had been unsuccessful at trying to lure him out thus far. She would never ever admit it out loud but she was starting to worry about him a little bit. He must be starving. She decided that she would try to lure him out by cooking some food. If that didn't work then she would bring out the big guns.

After finding the right sized frying pan, she placed it onto the stove. She went to the fridge and started pulling out ingredients. She decided to make omelettes because it was easily one of her favorite things to eat and they were easy to make. Unfortunately, she was sort of on a time limit and had to get him out of the room and eating something sooner rather than later. She got called to work the afternoon shift at the elementary school and didn't want to leave him starving even if he deserved it.

Also, she had no idea how familiar he was with human food or what he could or couldn't eat and she wanted to start with feeding him something simple. Then again, she recalled a story that Arthur once told her about his mother catching a raw, living gold fish from Tom's tank the night he found her and slurping it up like nothing so maybe his stomach could handle more than she thought. Either way, she didn't want to take any chances and accidentally poison him or something. She knew the chances of a simple omelette doing that were slim to none but still, she would never hear the end of it if she did accidentally make him sick and that was the last thing she wanted.

The first thing she did was set her eggs aside so she could cut up her onion and red pepper. She always made her omelettes with something extra in them. Normally, ham or some kind of meat was also involved but this time she decided to leave that out for Orm's sake. After she cut up her red pepper and onion, she turned her attention to the eggs and her frying pan. Cracking the eggs into bowl, she pour a bit of milk into them and then mixed the whole thing together. After her frying pan was sufficiently heated to her liking, she poured her eggs into the frying pan and then added the onions and red pepper.

After the first omelette was done, she got the second one going. By the time the second one was done, Orm still hadn't come out of the guest bedroom and she bit back a frustrated groan.

' _What a stubborn Jackass! I thought Arthur was stubborn! This is so ridiculous!_ ' She thought to herself in frustration.

She decided that she had enough and now it was time to bring out the big guns. He was coming out of that room whether he liked it or not.

After she finished getting the food on the table, she went to the guest bedroom and started pounding on the door as loud as she could.

"Come on, Charlie Tuna! It's time to get your stubborn royal ass out of that room. If you don't come out now, so help me god I will make you come out of there!" She yelled loudly.

She pounded on the door for a bit longer for good measure and then went back to preparing her brunch. Sure enough, about a minute later Orm finally emerged from the guest bedroom and came into the kitchen. Not only did he look extremely annoyed with her (which she could care less about) but he also looked far more disheveled then he did on the day he got here with Arthur. His blond hair was mussed and he looked like he could use a good shave. He also was still wearing his silver scales. Despite all this, he still managed to look handsome and she was annoyed to find that she liked it.

She tried to put that thought out of her mind for the time being and gestured for him to sit across from her. He gave her the stink eye, but complied and sat down across from her. He looked at the omelette in front of him and then back at her with disgust. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, don't give me that look. It's an omelette, I promise eating it won't kill you! Now, eat it before I make you!" She admonished gently.

He glared heavily at her but picked up his fork and tried a bit. Thankfully, he seemed to like it okay and she didn't think it was poisoning him in any way.

"See, now that wasn't so bad now, was it?" She giggled.

His glare worsened and she wondered if maybe she accidentally pushed it too far trying to get him to eat something.

"What gives you the right to order me around, human? Do you think you can because you are Arthur's little pet?" He snarled angrily.

At what he said, she had to hide a bit of flinch. Deep down, she knew that he was still trying to intimidate her by being a huge dick but that didn't mean that what he said didn't upset her but she refused to let it get to her and let him see that what he said bothered her at all.

"Look, I know you haven't figured it out, or accepted it yet or whatever but I am trying to help you. It's not my fault you insist on being a royal stubborn jackass about it." She hissed back.

After finishing the rest of her omelette, she got up out of out her chair and dumped her empty plate and cup in the sink. Before she left the kitchen, she turned her attention back to Orm who was still glaring angrily at her. She couldn't help but roll her eyes again.

' _Would he ever stop with that crap?_ ' She wondered to herself.

"I am going to get ready for work. Just put your plate in the sink when you are done. I will take care of it later." She muttered, leaving the room before he could respond.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down. Playing with the bracelet around her wrist, she had to again tamp down the urge to call Arthur to come take Orm back down to Atlantis and just forget the whole damn thing. Unfortunately, not only would that solve crap all but she would also be giving up and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

She could only hope that he would eventually get his head out of his ass and things would get easier.

Back in the Kitchen/Dining Room

_Orm_

Picking at the eggs in front of him, Orm snarled to himself. Somehow, Arthur's little human pet managed to get the best of him again. It was infuriating and yet there was a part of him that was very curious about her. Never had he met a human that acted the way she did before, while most humans acted meek around him she did not and she challenged him. No human ever DARED challenge him before, yet this slip of a girl did so without a second thought. He knew that what he said upset her, that much was obvious, yet she refused to back down. He was royalty and was used to everybody obeying his every whim, he knew that this human would not and that was extremely unnerving to him to say the least.

Deep down, he could see why Arthur grew so attached to her. There was something odd about her. He couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly but there was something about her that was very different than the average human. He would choke on a tin can before he ever admitted that out loud, though.

After finishing his eggs (that were okay for human food, something else he would rather die before admitting out loud), he got up and went to place his dirty dishes in the sink like she asked of him. As he did this, she popped back into the kitchen fully dressed and clearly ready to leave the house. She had on a pair of skinny jeans that he had to admit looked good on her. On her top half she had on black long, sleeved top that had picture of a heart with wings coming out of each side. Underneath the black top, she had on something pink and lacy. Her crazy hair was held up and out of her face with some kind of clip and she had just enough makeup on to make her features stand out.

Even though she would never be as attractive as an Atlantean girl, he had to admit that she was attractive looking for a human. Most human girls that he had come across before had always been heavily made up and wearing either something skin tight or barely there at all. It was refreshing to see a human girl dressed properly for a change.

Seeing a blush crawl up her neck, he realized that she knew that he 'checking her out' so to speak and he smirked at her. If he wanted to check her out, then he would. He was a king at one point after all, he could check out whomever he wanted. Human or otherwise.

She cleared her throat and he quirked his brow at her.

"Um, I'm leaving now. I am giving you fulll freedom to do whatever you please so please don't make me regret it!" She told him sternly.

He continued to stare at her with his brow quirked, he had half a mind to protest but full freedom could have its advantages so he decided to play nice for the time being.

"Very well." He stated dismissively.

Giving him a severely annoyed look, she turned away from him quickly and went to the front door. He watched her slip on her knee-high boots, throw on her jacket and grab her messenger bag. She exited the house and slammed the door behind her without so much of a second glace his way.

' _Humans, always so quick to anger or get annoyed.'_ He thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

Now that she was gone, he had to decide what he wanted to do with his 'freedom'. He still had a tracker implanted in between his shoulder blades so he wasn't exactly completely free but that didn't mean that he couldn't explore a bit. He debated to himself on what he should do. He could either stick to staying in the house and snoop in her room or leave the house and maybe follow her. His curiosity was piqued at the prospect of following her. It would be interesting to see just what kind of job she worked at, plus he could sneak around the town a bit too.

Having formed a plan of action in his head, he decided the first thing he should do is get himself cleaned up. He went back to the guest room and started looking through the human male clothes she left for him. He wondered how on earth she acquired so many human male clothes, there was no way they came from Arthur they weren't the right size. Suddenly, it occurred to him that she might have had past lovers and for some reason that he outright refused to examine, it bothered him.

As he quickly as he could, he let the train of thought go and concentrated picking out some human clothes to wear. He found a black shirt and a pair of black jeans that would have to do, wearing human clothes was not his favorite thing but he would have to put up with it because he couldn't walk around town sticking out like sore thumb. After he grabbed all the clothes he wanted, he grabbed some under things and toiletries too. He left the bedroom and went into the bathroom.

Shutting the door behind him, he got to work turning on the shower. He stripped down and once he got the water to his desired temperature, he hopped in. Even though he hated humans, he did know how to operate some basic human equipment when he needed to. After he hopped in, he started cleaning himself up. He let out a contented sigh, the heat felt good on his tense, stiff muscles.

Once he was done cleaning himself up, he turned the shower off and stepped out. Pulling a towel off the rack next to the shower, he dried off his hair and then rest of himself. Now that he was good and dry, he got dressed in the human clothes. Surprisingly, they weren't quite AS bad as he thought they would be.

After fixing his hair just how he liked it, he got to work on riding himself of his stubble and cleaning his teeth. It was amazing how much better and more like himself he felt now that he was all cleaned up.

Exiting the bathroom, he went back into the spare room to locate some socks and shoes. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.

' _Just how many lovers did the little human have, anyway?_ ' He wondered to himself.

He shook his head. He decided that it didn't matter and he was done thinking about such a stupid thing.

Now that he was ready to go, he decided that now was as good a time as any to leave the house. Walking to the front door, he exited the house and closed the door behind him. For a while, he ambled around town aimlessly watching humans do mundane things. Arthur's little human may have compassion for them but he thought they were nothing but wasteful, nuisance creatures. They poisoned everything they came into contact with especially his ocean and he hated them for it.

Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something familiar. It was the scent of the little human, it could belong to nobody else. Every creature had its own scent, be it human, Atlantean or animal. Her scent, however didn't smell like either human or Atlantean. It smelt…odd but not in a bad way just very odd. She almost smelt similar to Arthur but that was probably because she spent so much time around him.

Deciding that he had enough of watching humans for the time being, he decided to follow her scent and it led him all the way to an elementary school. It looked like all of the students were being let out for the day. He walked up to the chain-link fence and observed the young children running around. Some were running to catch the bus others were playing. They were all so…innocent. They reminded him so much of the children in Atlantis. They were no different from each other.

He began to wonder if maybe…the little human and Arthur had a bit of a point. Maybe he needed to observe things further. This was something he would keep to himself for the time being though.

For now, he turned his attention from the children to the little human who seemed to be helping the children get to where they needed to go. His stormy blue eyes softened just a fraction as he watched her with them.

Yes, this was something he had to observe further, he was certain of that.

_ Rayna _

Rayna sighed softly as she helped a young girl find her bus. It was now the end of the day and she still couldn't get Orm out of her mind. There was a huge part of her was still so annoyed with him. Not only did it take every ounce of patience she had to get him out of the guestroom this morning, but in the three days that he had been staying with her she couldn't even get him to call her by her name. It was always either 'Arthur's pet human' or 'little human', never once had he used 'Rayna'. It drove her crazy but there was a smaller part of her that really wanted to help him. It was crazy, but every time he was a jackass to her, she could see a little spark of  _something_  behind the facade he tried so hard to hold up and she really wanted to know what it was.

Besides, wasn't a quitter by any stretch of the imagination even though she already felt at her wit's end with him sometimes. Now that she knew that there was something there, she wanted to help him let the past go. She wanted to see what he tried to hard to keep hidden.

Just as she got the last child onto the appropriate bus, she felt a sudden jolt of awareness flare up in her gut. What it was she didn't know but she did know that she was being watched.

She looked around and sure enough she caught sight of Orm watching her on the other side of the fence on the opposite side of the school yard near the entrance of the school. She saw that he had finally decided to take advantage of the clothes that her exes had left behind. He chose a black shirt, dark jeans and a pair of black boots all of which fit him in a way that should be consider illegal.

She tried to ignore that and instead concentrate on the fact that the jackass was trying to stalk her.

Just what in the HELL was he trying to pull?

She stomped right up to the chain-link fence that he was standing behind and gave him the stink eye.

"What the hell, Orm? Did you follow me all the here? Are you stalking me now?!" She just about yelled in indignation.

He smirked at her and laughed.

"Oh come now, little human. I was only curious as to what your job might be. You did say I had total freedom after all." He chuckled.

She looked at him like he suddenly grew little purple hairs everywhere. What in the hell? Did he seriously just crack a joke? Unbelievable! Again, she wanted to be so pissed off at him for this but found that she just…couldn't. She was trying to teach him that most humans were in fact good. Maybe witnessing a bunch of children at play would help him to see that.

She gave him a look, and stuck her tongue out at him. He quirked his brow at her.

"Alright fine, you have a point. Just let me go and get my stuff and we'll walk home together." She conceded.

Before she left, she made sure to check once more that every child ended up where they were supposed to be. Satisfied that everybody was in the right place, she quickly ran back to the school and entered the large building. She went straight to the staff room and gathered all of her things and then she punched out.

After she did all of that, she came back out of the building and shockingly he was still waiting for her on the other side of the chain-link fence. She was a little shocked that had actually waited for her and just didn't leave without her. Together, they began to walk back to her house. Neither of them spoke, and the silence was making her very uncomfortable. Halfway back to the house, she chanced it and looked up at him.

He had this look on his face that she had never witnessed on him before. She knew what it was though, it was  _vulnerability._ Seeing those children, HAD changed something inside of him however small it was. As soon as he realized that she was looking at him, the look disappeared instantly as if it was never even there in the first place and was replaced with a sneer that she was very familiar with by now.

She sighed internally, of course she knew that it wouldn't be THAT easy to change things.

But at least there was some hope now and that was a step in the right direction in her books and that was all she could ask for at this point.

_Spoiler_

_Rayna_

_Rayna was shaking and her heart was pounding. This was why she hated working at the bar, there was no shortage of biker assholes who thought they could get away with whatever they wanted and now she was trapped by one of them. This guy was massive and there was no easy way out._

_She looked around and saw that beer bottles, cans and any other beverage container had started shaking all around her. If she didn't figure a way out of this mess fast, she would end up accidentally unleashing an alcohol tsunami on top of the entire bar!_

_Just what was she going to do to get herself out of this mess?_


	6. Shoulder Note

Hello Everybody!

Alright, so I feel I have to level with everybody. I know this is another author’s note and I am so sorry but I have hit a snag in my updating. About 3 weeks or so ago, I hurt my shoulder at work and it is really difficult for me to type for long periods. It is unbelievably frustrating and I really hate it. I have a chapter of the art of letting go of the past, Professor’s pet and Away from here all started but I just can’t type long enough to finish them. I honestly can’t even…there really are no adjectives in the English dictionary to describe how frustrating this really is. I know you are all waiting for more stuff and I want to give you more stuff but I am stuck. ANYWAY, I just want to let everybody know I was working on things until this happened and derailed EVERYTHING. I am really hoping to get back in action soon but in the meantime thank you all for not giving up on me yet. I will be back in action as soon as humanly possible I promise!

Thanks for hanging on!

~Ryu


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